


No Matter How Dark the Night, Morning Always Comes, and Our Journey Begins Anew

by hxchi



Series: Because 3(+) Is Often Better Than 2 [4]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Bullying, But good fucking choice m8, Flirting by Teasing, Forced Outing, Homophobia, I can't actually believe those are tags, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Karasuno Family, M/M, Multi, Panic Attacks, Self-Acceptance, Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Hatred, Team Dad Sawamura Daichi, Team Mom Sugawara Koushi, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-01
Updated: 2020-01-01
Packaged: 2021-04-21 08:06:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22052596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hxchi/pseuds/hxchi
Summary: Tsukishima is forced out of the closest when a photo of him kissing his boyfriends gets leaked out.
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou/Kuroo Tetsurou/Tsukishima Kei
Series: Because 3(+) Is Often Better Than 2 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1527005
Comments: 10
Kudos: 556





	No Matter How Dark the Night, Morning Always Comes, and Our Journey Begins Anew

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lavendersickness](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lavendersickness/gifts).

> Sorry, it took so long sweetness, but I have deleted this story and started over at least four times. I hope you guys enjoy this!!! 
> 
> P.S. Can any of you guess where this beautiful title came from?
> 
> P.P.S. I finally feel like one of those aesthetically good authors with the super-duper long and meaningful but not really titles

_"Um, thank you for meeting with me, Tsukishima-san" She's pretty, Kei guesses. Short, curly brown hair, happy brown eyes. Clear skin. It's the kind of thing straight guys would find attractive. _

_Kei can feel the impending doom of what's about to happen. The girl hands him the letter, little hearts drawn around her name. Misaki Himari. He accepts the letter quietly, and her pretty smile makes it harder for him to refuse her because it's not her fault he likes guys instead of girls. _

_"I can't return your feelings," Tsukishima tells her eventually before he gets her hopes up. _

-

"Tsukki!!" As soon as the train stopped, Bokuto jumped off and into Kei's arms. Kuroo and Akasshi followed, but albeit more quietly. They crowded in for another group hug, like many of the other passengers of the train. Kei could barely breathe, with the combined weight of his boyfriends and their luggage. Their scents 

It's weird saying that, even in his head. Boyfriends. 

"It's not that far from my house, but my mom is outside waiting anyway," Kei said softly, messing idly with strands of Kuroo's hair. They grinned, because _who knew Tsukki had such a big heart_?

"Did you tell your parents yet?" Akasshi asked and Kei freezes. He lowered his head and kept his eyes downcast. That had been the hardest part, and every time he attempted to bring it up, his parents brushed it aside. And there had been too many instances where Kei had froze, too scared to get two words out of his mouth. _I'm gay _is all he has to say, but he _can't_. 

His heart clenches painfully when he lifts his eyes to catch a brief glance of Bokuto's hurt expression. "I'm...I told Aki-nii, but...I, not my parents, not yet" Kei whispers quietly and forces the tears to evaporate, or something, so he doesn't cry in front of them. His fist clenches tightly at his sides, because here he is, yet again, ruining something for his boyfriends.

"Hey, it's okay. You don't have to try so hard Tsukki" Kuroo says, and pulls him into another hug. Kuroo lets out a shaky laugh and kisses him. "That's scary, and we get that. Just know we support you one-hundred percent" 

"Yeah! You don't have to rush for us Tsukki!" 

Dammit, now he's crying.

He can feel Bokuto hold his hand, and Akasshi pulls out a small kleenex to wipe at his eyes. As they walk the short distance from the station to his moms' car, Kei wonders. _When did I get so lucky?_

His mother is a small woman, and his father is tall. Akiteru is tall, so is Kei. So his mother should be used to being around tall people. However, when her eyes land on Kei's boyfriends, she freezes a bit, he can tell. Then, a huge grin makes way onto her face, and she pulls each of them in for a huge hug and correctly placing a name to a face. Bokuto seems to eat it up, as does Kuroo and Akasshi looks a tad scared. 

"Well, I for one, think it is so amazing for him to hang around someone who _isn't_ Tadashi," His mother says with a tiny giggle when everyone is already in the car, bags stored safely in the trunk. 

Kuroo's arm sneaks its way from the back seat to the front to pinch Kei on his forearm. His lips purse, but other than that, he gives no other reaction. It's what Kuroo lives for, a reaction. It's why Kei likes him so much because he pushed him to react with something other than snark. The car pulls into the Tsukishima household, and Kei leads his boyfriends upstairs. 

"Aki-nii is coming home for this weekend too, so we can all stay in my room-" 

"Do we get to share the same bed? Because I forgot my futon" The expression on Bokuto's face shows that he most certainly did _not_ forget his futon, or that he left it home on purpose. Kei's eyebrows furrow and his lips go slack. 

"Yeah, me too" Kuroo adds with his usual smirk. One hand goes to intertwine their fingers, and the other goes to sling around his shoulders. "But since your such an amazing _boyfriend_, we can just share, right?" 

"That _is_ a pretty big bed bro" Bokuto whistles, incredibly fake and off-key. The owl turns to Akasshi, who looked content on just scrolling through his phone. "What about you babe, you think Tsukki has enough room for the four of us?"

Kei sighs, loudly. "Akasshi, did you by chance forget your futon as well?" 

Akasshi, the blessed angel that he is, has the decency to look apologetic. 

\- 

"How is the crazy train going?!" Akiteru says, as cringey as someone should expect his twenty-eight-year-old brother to sound. There is a grocery bag slung upon his shoulder, and Kei can only hope that it contains snacks. All of his boyfriends are sitting, cuddling inconspicuously in some way. There is a movie playing on the television of his bedroom--_Howl's Moving Castle, because look, it's Tsukki!_\--. 

Kei stands up to give his older brother a hug, short and sweet because if Akiteru really _did_ bring cake, he knows he's going to have to earn it. Most likely being 'a cutesy and adorable little brother', whatever that means. But Kei draws it to being more affectionate, and dare he say it, _nic__e._ "Aki-nii, you promised you wouldn't be embarrassing" 

"_What?_" Akiteru says, with fake appall. "Are you telling me, your amazing older brother, to leave this room _right now_, and _not_ give cake and snacks to everyone? What kind of boyfriend are you?". Everyone perks the head up, and Akasshi pauses the movie. It's cake, and their high school boys, so what can you do? 

"Dude, Tsukki. Stop being a salty french fry so your brother can love us" Bokuto says, in the most serious voice he can muster. He actually does a pretty good job at it, which is even more surprising, because Bokuto is the least serious person he knows. Then again, he is Kuroo's other braincell, so maybe they transfer energy? 

"Fine" A huff. Trust it to everyone present in his life to make things complicated for him. Excluding Akasshi, of course. "Just give me my cake Aki-nii" 

"Your cake?" Akasshi deadpans, even though he _is_ talking about cake, and forget, Kei takes it back. Apparently, even his calmest, most angelic boyfriend has a devilish streak from time to time. It's all Kuroo's fault anyway.

Kuroo gasps, aloud, because he can't miss the opportunity to tease him. "Don't we get some too?". Kei groans, very loudly, and barely moves his head in the motion of a nod. The older Tsukishima is happy enough with this and goes to hand the bag over. However, Kuroo intercepts it, and holds it above his reach. 

Akiteru snickers, but doesn't look ready to save him at all._ What good are older brothers for if they don't defend you against your boyfriends teasing? _In fact, Akiteru leaves the room entirely, leaving his 'precious, little brother'--his words, not Kei's--all on his own. Kei sighs again and tries--fails, miserably--to reach for the bag himself. The captain of Nekoma does nothing but stretch his arm a little farther upwards.

"Kuroo, give it right this minute or so help me _god_-"

Bokuto and Akasshi laugh--_not fair, help me_ he wants to say but doesn't--. "What was that babe? 'Tetsurou, Koutaru, Keiji, you are the most amazing boyfriends I could ever ask for, and you make me happy'?". 

"I'm not saying that," Kei tells him, because one, that sentence is so lovey-sappy that it makes him puke internally. Second, it involves first names. That alone scares him on so many levels. It could show how intimate of a relationship they have for one, and he hadn't even come out of the closet to his parents yet. Kuroo swings the bag in front of his face, then propels it back very slowly. 

Bokuto shrugs and puts a hand on Akasshi's knee. "Well, if you want some, you know what to-" 

Kei leans over and kisses Kuroo on the mouth slowly. "Please..._Tetsurou_?". He pulls back even more slowly, admires his handiwork with hooded eyes. 

Utter silence. 

"Fucking _shit_ bro, where did he learn that?" Bokuto says quietly, seriously, eyes blown wide. 

"I don't know bro, but _damn,_" Kuroo says, also in a shocked tone of voice, and puts a hand to his heart. "That was one of the hottest things I have seen in my entire _life_". Kei smirks, and in the window of opportunity, takes the cake box, Akasshi's hand, and runs downstairs. 

\- 

The next morning, Kei is jostled awake, quite roughly by none other than Bokuto Koutaru. He considers punching him in the gut, he doesn't, because that would be mean. Also, Bokuto's body is sculpted from the gods, so he most likely wouldn't even feel it. 

"Babe! Your awake, get up and get dressed-" 

"Do you have any idea what the fucking time it is?" Kei interrupts with something close to a growl on the edge of his words because never is he _ever_, a morning person. It is utterly ridiculous how everyone is already up. And dressed. At nine in the morning. 

"It's only nine," Kuroo says cheerfully, walking into the room shirtless. Kei averts his eyes, and then decides, _what the actual hell?_ and opts to openly ogle him. The black shirt is tight, and Kei can see the expanse of muscles even if he wasn't trying to look. And then Kuroo ruins the whole thing by smirking at him and throwing a Nekoma hoodie over it. 

"You have to get up earlier for school, do you not Tsukishima?" Akasshi says next, leaning over to peck him softly on the forehead. Kei throws his head back down onto the pillows and does his best to go back to sleep. 

"Fine. Do you know what day it is?" Kei asks and doesn't bother on waiting for a response from any of his boyfriends. "It's Saturday, it is _sacred law_ that everyone must sleep in until eleven on a Saturday" 

"Is that so?" Akasshi says with a laugh, as Bokuto and Kuroo head down (probably for breakfast, it's like they know he's going to get up anyway). 

"Yeah," Kei says with a grumble, and a pout he's sure Akasshi can't quite see. They sit in silence for a few minutes, and it's pretty evident that he won't leave until Kei gets up. So, Kei groans loudly and reaches for his glasses. "I hope you know I could get arrested for this, breaking such sacred law"

Akasshi laughs again, and it's a truly beautiful sound before he pushes him in the direction of the bathroom. By the time Kei is dressed and ready, it is only ten in the morning. Still, _way_ too early to....whatever it is they dragged him out of bed for. 

"Where are we even going?" Kei says as Kuroo places a bowl of rice and miso soup in front of him. Bokuto perks up instantly, a huge grin forming on his face. His eyes light up in a way that Kei has a feeling means _volleyball_. 

"Volleyball!" Bokuto practically yells, and Akasshi hits him lightly as a reprimand. Much quietly, he continues "We saw a sand court not far from your house, and Akiteru already told your parents." 

Dammit. So now he can't back out, _and_ they're going to volleyball, which means, _ew_....sweat. 

"You better be glad we're dating" Is all he says before he goes upstairs to grab the ball. Kuroo brings a little picnic basket, which, weirdly, was not suggested in the previous Plan. Kei would have been much more willing to go along with the Plan, had he heard there would be a picnic after. Kei is also a big fan of picnics, and he'll kill Akiteru if he found out he told. 

"Oh, and another thing-" Kuroo says, as they near closer and closer to the court. Strangely, he can see a flash of orange, and Kei sinks a little bit further into dread. 

"You did _not_ invite the idiot duo," Kei says and groans when, yes, they did, in fact, invite the Idiot Duo. Bokuto looks at him sadly, then dashes off to his 'Crow Son' and Kuroo goes to greet Kageyama sagely. "I thought this was a _date_"

Akasshi shrugs. "I told them that, but Kuroo said he has it all under control. Although, I highly doubt that. If things get too much for you, we can always make off with the food and have a romantic picnic somewhere far away?". Kei gives him a smile, then leans over to kiss his cheek. 

"You know me so well Akasshi" And with that, they jog off towards the court, and split off into teams. After, like twenty minutes--it's actually more like ten, but Kei is dramatic at heart--it is decided that Kageyama, Kei, and Hinata will partner one team, and his boyfriends on the other. Bokuto makes a big show of being separated from Kei, but he can tell he's probably happy to be on a team with people he is more familiar with. 

_Wait_. Kei isn't jealous, not over something so trivial as team pickings. He can't be, it's _stupid_, and Kei doesn't do stupid things. His hands clench and he forces himself to focus on the game, focuses on the taunting smirk Kuroo gives him on a failed block, or the concentrated gaze of Akasshi when he sets or the glow of Bokuto's entire being when he lands a successful spike. It's beautiful and sexy and taunting. 

Kei feels left out, and he hates himself immediately for thinking like that. It's just a team--_they fit so well together_\--, and they love him anyway, and he should _stop thinking like this_. The spike seems to fly right past him, much to the anger of the Idiot Duo, and Akasshi, as perceptive as he is, stops the game. 

"Water" Is all he says, but his eyes flick to Kei's and they share _something_. And really, they end up not finishing the game, which is all fine and dandy by him. Sweat pools around his forehead and the neckline of his thin shirt. His boyfriends all look exciting and beautiful, and Kei feels...he feels-. 

He feels _droopy_. Like a disgusting, wilting, half-dead flower. 

But, hey, at least the picnic is nice

-

Kei kisses his boyfriends goodbye and pushes the cluster of bodies onto the train. He brushes a tear from his eye when he shares a gaze with Bokuto, who blows him kisses until the train zooms out of sight. 

"I like your friends," His mother tells him, on the ride home. The car doesn't feel right because three other people are missing. And for once, Kei understands the feeling of homesickness. Because part of himself is gone, wedged deeply into three hearts flying their way to Tokyo. 

"Your boyfriends are nice" Akiteru tells him when it's just the two of them watching _Jurassic Park_ before his brother is destined to leave for uni. " That Kuroo is something else though, Bokuto too! I almost feel bad for Akasshi".

Kei laughs, and sitting here by Akiteru, almost makes the pain go away. 

-

When Kei shows up for Monday morning practice, the gym is silent. That in itself is strange because everyone is already _here_. He should be able to hear them from at least a yard or four away. Suspicion and this gritty thing called _survival_ instantly blooms in Kei's chest. Everyone seems sort of distant towards him, even Yamaguchi startles away from him. 

He can't handle that, Yamaguchi distancing himself. As soon as break time is called, Kei pulls Yamaguchi out of the gym and into the cool morning air. "Why is everyone staring at me like that?". There's no point in beating around the bush, especially when Kei knows Yamaguchi would take an opportunity like that and run with it. His best friend was always weak for confrontations and the best way to get a secret out of Yamaguchi way to forcefully ask him about it. 

His freckled best friend pushes his fingers against each other bashfully. "How come you didn't tell me you were gay Tsukki?". His words are shocking because _no one was supposed to know, not yet. How in the world does Tadashi know?_

Kei flinches and curls his hands at his sides. "I...I just came to terms with it myself. And, I told Aki-nii, no one else" 

"And? You left out the part where your dating the captain of Nekoma" Even more surprising news, because _how does he know?_ Yamaguchi crosses his arms and pouts at him. "There's a picture of you kissing Kuroo Tetsurou posted on Instagram". Yamaguchi pulls out his phone as proof, and it's definitely in the pudding. His arms are wrapped securely around Kuroo, and their lips are connected. 

_When...where...how was this even taken?_

Kei's world goes downhill from there. His breathing quickens and his thoughts swirl out of control. Instantly, he fears the reactions, has heard of what they do to the 'gay' kid at school. It's getting harder and harder to focus on Yamaguchi, although he stays standing in front of him. And then he fears for his boyfriends. Do they know? Are they going to be affected because Tsukishima couldn't hide their relationship well enough? 

"Hey! _Tsukishima, in and out okay?_" He does as instructed, and soon, he calms down. Luckily, it wasn't a full-blown panic attack, like the ones he used to have before he started dating his boyfriends. 

"You don't mind?"

"I'm just upset you didn't tell me," Yamaguchi says with a laugh. A few minutes of comfortable silence pass between them before Yamaguchi graces him with a smile. "I honestly couldn't care if you were into bestiality"

Total silence. 

Both boys wince. Yamaguchi rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. "Well, actually, I'd be worried about that. Because I've got a dog..and _ew_, okay. But don't worry Kei, we've got your back!"

"We?" The curtains above one of the windows close very quickly, and Kei sees a flash of silver. "_Oh_"

-

_"Well, since everybody seems to know my business already-"_

_"Hey! It's not our fault, you should have told us first Stingyshima!" _

_"Well Tsukishima-kun, the window was right there"_

_"Hinata boke, let him finish!" _

_"Jeez. I can't believe I'm about to entrust to a bunch of idiots-"_

_"You are one rude shit Tsukishima. How in the hell does that city boy even put up with you?" _

_"Watch your language, Tanaka" _

_"I don't have one boyfriend. I have three"_

_"Wahhhh?! Who, Tsukki?" _

_"...."_

_"Tell me, now!" _

_" Um, Noya, you shouldn't push him so hard" _

_"Asahi, shut up" _

_"O-okay, Noya" _

_"I'm dating Kuroo, Bokuto, and Akasshi. All of us, together."_

_[ complete team silence, an amazing thing, really. this rarely happens. then, suddenly:]_

_"I'll be having words with those boys"_

_"You are literally the same age as them Daichi, don't get so ahead of yourself" _

_"But Suga....they're going to defile our baby crow"  
_

_"Don't refer to me as your son ever again" _

-

It's nice that he doesn't have to do any of this stuff alone. 

-

_There's news. Tanaka-kun in class 2-C got in a fight with a bunch of kids again_

_That's not news, he's always trying to fight someone _

_Yeah, well. Remember that picture that got on Instagram?_

_The one with the first year....the gay one right?_

_Yeah, him. Some other kids were messing with him, and followed him home. _

_They...they didn't hurt him right?_

_No! Well, they were, but Tanaka was also walking home with them, and y'know...._

\- 

It's a perfect time, really, to drop the gay bomb on his parents. It's after dinner, and several drinks of wine and Kei is feeling lucky. His father had just earned a new promotion, and Kei had been doing really well with volleyball. His mom sold a painting, which was a new hobby she decided to try out. Kei had kind of liked that painting and was really close to buying it himself, and Kei doesn't even _like_ art. 

"Mom, dad. I'm gay" Just like that, and Kei can feel his world tilt on and off it's an axis. He knows that even if they were to say no, disown him, get angry, he'd still have Akiteru on his side. And his team. And his boyfriends. 

Instead, his mom smiles and shares a laugh with her husband. "It's those _friends_ you invited down for the weekend right?". Kei stares at his parents, in complete and utter shock. 

"H-how did you guys know?" Kei's father nudges him toward another slice of cake, an amiable smile on his face, a glass of wine in his hand. 

"Well, it was easy Kei. All you had to do was watch the way they looked at you. And when you find someone who looks at you like you've put the stars in the sky, well, you had better not let them go" His mother said seriously and terribly giddy at the same time. 

_How did I get so lucky? _Kei asked himself, as he lay in bed that night. _How in the world did I get so lucky?_

-

Nekoma hosts a short training camp soon, and the whole bus ride is spent with the team sleeping or sending suggestive looks Kei's way. It's embarrassing, their all embarrassing. However, Kei can't exactly contain his excitement. And the worst part is, he can't sleep. He had kept this a secret...being accepted by his team and his family for four weeks now, and Kei was bursting at the seams. There is adrenalin coursing through his veins, hair standing up on the back of his neck.

The bus pulls nearer and nearer to Tokyo, closer and closer to Nekoma High School. When the bus finally pulls up, Kei isn't at all ashamed to be the first one off the bus and into his boyfriend's arms. 

"I told them," Kei says in a hushed whisper as he squeezes them more tightly, breathing in their familiar scents. He can feel them freeze up almost simultaneously. "I told my team and my parents...and they, they're okay with it. Really happy for me, and you."

"Oh! Man, that's great!" Akasshi says, with a genuine smile and excitement that sounds like Bokuto. 

"I...thank you for being patient with me" And again, almost simultaneously, Kei's boyfriends all shed tears at the same time. 

_Boyfriends_. _What a funny word._

**Author's Note:**

> As you very well know, use this handy-dandy link to request more stories!! 
> 
> https://forms.gle/TLisPCZxzQoieaPv8
> 
> P.S. In the end, I couldn't fit violence into this story at all! No matter how many times I rewrote it, the violence seemed to through it off. If you don't like, don't be afraid to tell me. 
> 
> P.P.S. HAPPY NEW YEARS
> 
> P.P.P.S Sometimes I feel like I connect with both Tsukishima, Kuroo, Bokuto, and Akasshi on a spiritual level. Send help.


End file.
